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Veto

This is a sure sign that Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey is definitely going to seek the Presidency in 2016. It’s presumed that he’s been advised to appeal to the nation’s pro-gun conservatives in order to be a viable candidate.

The Democratic-controlled state legislature in New Jersey approved 15 measures to address gun violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre, and last week, Gov. Chris Christie (R)approved 10 of them. The measures signed into law weren’t terribly controversial — they mostly dealt with increasing penalties on existing gun laws.

Christie did not, however, take a side on the five most contentious bills, including a ban on .50 caliber rifles. That changed late this afternoon.

Gov. Chris Christie issued an absolute veto today of the bill that would have barred civilians’ use of .50-caliber weapons.

In discussing A3659/S2178, Christie’s office said in a release that “The bill passed by the legislature seeks to ban a firearm that has reportedly never been used in a crime in New Jersey. It imposes criminal liabilities on all current owners of these firearms, including those who believed that they had properly registered their guns with law enforcement.”

It’s worth pausing to appreciate just what Christie has done with this veto. See that image above? The .50 caliber is the one on the left. As Rachel explained on the show earlier this week, a .50 caliber shell is basically the size of a “carrot,” which serves “an effective military weapon against even some armored vehicles. A few years back, 60 Minutes showed .50 caliber rifles making short work of steel plate armor at several hundred yards.” It also has the capacity to shoot down an airplane.

Under current law in New Jersey, any adult can legally purchase this weapon. The state legislature decided that’s no longer a good idea, and today, Chris Christie vetoed the ban.

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D) said in a statement, “Banning these battlefield-style weapons was designed to keep these highly destructive firearms out of the hands of dangerous criminals and terrorists. Weaponry designed for the battlefield, that serves no legitimate civilian use, should not be landing on our streets. Instead the governor has shunned this notion and bowed to the pressure of right wing conservatives. The governor’s vetoes today demonstrate a failure in leadership. Instead of doing what’s right for New Jersey, he bowed to the pressures of his political party.”

This was not his only gun-related veto this afternoon — Christie also rejected a bill that would create new firearm ID “smartcards.”

I have a hunch Rachel will have more on these developments on tonight’s show.

Calling it “a bridge too far,” Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Monday vetoed the state legislature’s controversial “birther bill” and also rejected a bill that would have permitted guns on college campuses.

The Republican governor said the birther bill would have created “significant new problems while failing to do anything constructive for Arizona” and that she had no choice but to nix the legislation, which would have required presidential candidates to provide their birth certificates or other documentation proving that they were born in the United States.

In a letter explaining her veto to the House speaker, Brewer said she could not support legislation that “could lead to arbitrary or politically motivated decisions” about candidates’ eligibility for the presidential race, since Arizona’s secretary of state would be the single person to ultimately decide whether a hopeful’s documentation met the state’s standards.

“I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for president of the greatest and most powerful nation on earth to submit their ‘early baptismal or circumcision certificates’ among other records to the Arizona secretary of state,” she said in the letter. “This is a bridge too far.”

Incoming House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) predicted on Sunday that House Republicans would not only have enough votes to repeal the president’s health care reform law, but also could have the numbers to override a presidential veto of that repeal, and would start the process before the upcoming State of the Union address.

“As part of our pledge we said that we would bring up a vote to repeal health care early,” Upton said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday. “That will happen before the president’s State of the Union address. We have 242 Republicans. There will be a significant number of Democrats, I think, that will join us. You will remember when that vote passed in the House, last march; it only passed by seven votes.

“Just wait. If you switched four votes from last march, that bill would have gone down. So we’ll take the Democrats that voted no, we will take other Democrats who probably agree with Speaker Pelosi’s statement. Remember when she said we want to pass this thing because then we’ll learn what’s in it? Well now the American public does know what is in it. Unpopularity numbers are as high as 60 percent across the country. I don’t think we’re going to be that far off from having the votes to actually override a veto.” More…